29 January 2012 – Calgary, CANADA
Shani Davis picked up two more World Sprint Championship medals to add to his lifetime collection.
Racing in the first of two 1000m contests here, Shani showed the form that twice earned him Olympic Gold: Winning in 1:07.25, his 24.7 first lap was fastest on the day and no one was able to keep pace with his blazing 25.7 second lap.
The victory followed consecutive 1000m wins on the World Cup circuit last weekend in Salt Lake City, where Shani set the current 1000m World Record of 1:06.42 in 2009.
Shani picked up the pace in the second 1000m with a 1:07.11, including a jaw-dropping 25.3 final 400m. However, that stellar time wasn’t quite fast enough to garner the gold, which went to the faster-starting Stefan Groothuis (1:06.96).
With 1000m times reduced to base-500m points, Shani’s four-race total of 137.36 put him 5th overall behind Groothuis (136.81), who captured his first World Sprint Championship.
Shani won the World Sprint Championship in 2009, joining the legendary Eric Heiden as the only men to win both the Sprint and Allround World title.
[Photo by Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh, AP]
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